OTrack 2018 – MIS Connection

As part of the release of OTrack 2018, we are really excited to introduce a new feature that our users have been asking for… OTrack will sync directly with your Management Information System (MIS).

Why are we introducing an MIS connection?

There are two reasons we decided to do this:

As you know there is a change in the data protection law. The old Data Protection Act has been superseded by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The deadline for compliancy of GDPR is in May 2018. Read the ‘What about GDPR?‘ section below to find out how this MIS integration is part of our GDPR compliancy plan.

Also, at OTrack we are always looking at ways to improve both the service that we provide, and the experience which a school has when using our software. As you are aware, OTrack requires certain school information to run (i.e. student names, context groups etc) and in the past, these have been added in a number of time consuming ways. At the request of our schools, we are now enhancing our service by connecting OTrack to your MIS.

To achieve the two points above we are working closely Wonde.

Who are Wonde?

Wonde are our MIS integration partner, they are a prominent and trusted company within the education software sector. They are also Capita SIMs Technical Partners, Bett Show Partners and a leading provider of GDPR advice to schools and Multi-Academy Trusts. Here is a link to Wonde’s security documents.

The good news is, when you are upgraded to OTrack 2018, our integration with Wonde means that there will be no more manual uploads of CTFs and class lists – everything will be automatically updated.

What about GDPR?

The work carried out with Wonde and Buckworths (our GDPR and legal team) has been an integral part in our preparation for being GDPR complaint by May 2018.

OTrack requires you to record pupil information including name, gender, date of birth, FSM status, EAL status and other contextual group info. In previous years, schools have populated OTrack with this information by importing a common transfer file (CTF). A CTF holds more data than OTrack needs, therefore an integration with your MIS means we only populate OTrack with data that is needed for OTrack to work for you. This is a key element of GDPR, and our work with Wonde has ensured that we, and schools that use OTrack, are compliant with this change.

What next?

Wonde will be contacting all OTrack users between October 2017 and April 2018, to book in your MIS connection setup with OTrack. Once the integration setup is complete, we will contact you to discuss your staging date for the upgrade to OTrack 2018.

If you want to be upgraded to OTrack 2018 now or if you have any questions, please email otrack2018@optimumotrack.co.uk – and we will arrange a time to discuss your staging date.

How much will it cost?

There will be no cost for the MIS connection setup. While the upgrade to the improved features in OTrack 2018 is free, we will be charging an annual fee of £75 (+vat) for the integration with your MIS. This will be charged after your OTrack 2018 staging date, not when we carry out the MIS connection setup.

If you don’t want the link

This isn’t a mandatory feature in the 2018 update, so if you don’t want the live link to your MIS, you just need to let us know by emailing otrack2018@optimumotrack.co.uk.

Schools that don’t use the MIS integration link can add and update pupil records directly in OTrack. If you’re a new customer or an existing customer, we will add all your pupils for you in the initial set up. You will then need to manage pupil records directly in OTrack from then on.

If you decide you do want to use the MIS integration feature at a later date, we can switch it on for you.